Idol chatter: Minaj unplugged

FILE- In this Nov. 18, 2012 file photo, Nicki Minaj arrives at the 40th Anniversary American Music Awards, in Los Angeles. Despite having a big year in music, Nicki Minaj didn't receive any Grammy nominations. The 30-year-old had one of last year's biggest hits with the multiplatinum dance-pop a

/ Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP

FILE- In this Nov. 18, 2012 file photo, Nicki Minaj arrives at the 40th Anniversary American Music Awards, in Los Angeles. Despite having a big year in music, Nicki Minaj didn't receive any Grammy nominations. The 30-year-old had one of last year's biggest hits with the multiplatinum dance-pop anthem “Starships.” Her sophomore album, “Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded,” has reached gold status and launched other hits on the rap and R&B charts. But Minaj was shunned out when the Grammys announced this year's nominees, though the animated performer earned three nominations last year, including best new artist and best rap album for her platinum debut, “Pink Friday.” (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)

FILE- In this Nov. 18, 2012 file photo, Nicki Minaj arrives at the 40th Anniversary American Music Awards, in Los Angeles. Despite having a big year in music, Nicki Minaj didn't receive any Grammy nominations. The 30-year-old had one of last year's biggest hits with the multiplatinum dance-pop anthem “Starships.” Her sophomore album, “Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded,” has reached gold status and launched other hits on the rap and R&B charts. But Minaj was shunned out when the Grammys announced this year's nominees, though the animated performer earned three nominations last year, including best new artist and best rap album for her platinum debut, “Pink Friday.” (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File) (/ Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

Bill Pinella

The following is from mjsbigblog.com …

In a late-March conference call with reporters Nicki Minaj, was totally blunt when asked whether she believed any of the remaining guys had a chance to win. “No. Not a chance” she answered. Read on to find out which contestants Nicki thinks are the front-runners, which contestants she could possibly see herself collaborating with, and whether she’d consider returning to Idol next season.

Did she have a favorite gay contestant that auditioned?

“I definitely think Papa Peachez was probably the most dear to my heart, only because I felt that he was such a superstar. But I don’t think he really knew that yet. Whenever I meet someone where I feel like they don’t really know their own worth, it kinda bothers me. I thought he was so exciting. I wanted to see him perform his original music every week. Unfortunately, he got overshadowed by all the other big singers.”

What does she like about Amber Holcomb. What does she need to do to make it to the final.

“What I loved about her, was that she got hardly any airtime prior to Vegas. I feel like America didn’t even know she existed until Vegas shows. She already had something going against her. When she sang 'My Funny Valentine,' it’s like she became a young Whitney Houston. I think everyone was just blown away. I think that it’s really exciting that we got to see her become a superstar, as opposed to already figuring out that she was one of the contenders that was already on everyone’s minds. She needs to come on stage and treat it like she’s fighting for her life, every single night. Last week, for whatever reason–probably was resting on her laurels thinking ‘everybody loves me now, I don’t have to have such a dynamic performance.’ And then she was in the bottom 3. If she comes out there and keeps that sparkle in her eye every single week, and keeps on making it feel like it could be her possible last time on stage, I think that she’ll be fine. I think her voice is out of this world.”

What have been her best and worst moments on Idol?

“I don’t have a worst Idol moment. I’ve been spectacular. Yes, I’m going to toot my own horn. My best moment is every single moment. I’ll toot it again.”

A reporter from MTV asked, “You’ve made quite a splash on the show so far. You kind of showed up late a little bit last week, you’ve been kind of speaking your mind. Are you kind of surprised by how easy it’s been for you to kind of get out there and be yourself and share your criticisms and your compliments?

Nicki responded, “OK. The first part of your question had nothing to do with the question you ended up answering. I’m just going to pass on that question” Nicki was clearly irritated.

Who does she see at the front-runner for season 12?

“I would say Kree, and Angie, I think are the front-runners. (thinks for a moment) Kree, Angie and Candice. I think that outside of their voices, they’ve won people over already, which I think is evident from what I see on twitter with my fans. Those three seem to have really really made an impact–not only with just a great voice that sounds like it already should be making albums–but for some reason [with} their personalities."

How does she feel about winning new fans over since joining Idol?

"I think God is good. I feel like my entire career and life I've been judged by people who really did not know me. But I definitely think that they probably were right to assume what they had assumed about me, because there was so little to go on out there. If you've only seen videos, and me being crazy, and hearing little things here and there, then obviously you're not going to have any idea who I really am. I'm just happy that Idol producers gave me a shot on the show-- and to be able to show who I really was--because I feel like I'm every single woman. I really really don't think outside of, maybe some pink wigs, that there's anything that separates me from every other woman in America. I'm just happy that I was given the opportunity. Some people don't get an opportunity to show the world who they really are. Some people come out and put an album out and people just never talk about them again. But I was given an opportunity to show who I was as a human being and I really appreciate that."

On critiquing contestants based on their whole package, not just their vocals.

"I don't think that [styling} will have anything to do with them winning Idol, because I feel like the Idol viewer is really not biased when it comes to the look. But, I think that, when you go out into the real world as an artist, you may want to think about it. I don't think there's anything wrong with thinking about how you want to look, how you want to present yourself to the world. I also think that they need to hear criticism on their look on the show because that's what they're going to be criticized on in the real world. They're going to go on blogs every single day and see themselves on worst dressed lists, or best dressed lists, or saying they look bad, or whatever. So they need to start getting an idea of the real world."

"I think people would rather be surprised. I like to save the mystery and the drama. I'd never give that away. I always say this--and I mean it from the bottom of my heart--the people behind the scenes at Idol have been a dream to work with, and I really really honestly mean that. Mike Darnell [FOX Reality Chief] took a chance on me, nobody else understood it, they were like ‘Nicki who?’ He took a chance on me, he believed in me–his daughter and his wife believed in me. I’m just super grateful to have been given the opportunity.”

The reporter wanted Nicki to compare him to a food.

“Do you wear glasses?” He answered “Oh my God, how did you know? ” She answered, “Because you sound like you wear glasses. I want to call you a string bean.” He answered, “Wow, it’s like you’re in the room with me.”

How does she feel about being a polarizing figure on the panel.

“I am absolutely just being me. I didn’t know what to expect. I had a lot of anxiety. I felt like ‘I know everybody is just going to hate me. Oh well.’ There were moments in the audition process that I would say to the producers, ‘I can’t do this anymore, because if everyone is going to give good critique, and I’m going to be the only being honest, then America is going to hate me. I’m going to be seen as mean.’ And the producers said, ‘Nicki. Trust me, America is going to appreciate the honesty.’ And that’s all I had to go on. I had Mike Darnell, and Trish, and Nigel telling me, ‘take their word.’ And that’s what I did. I took their word and I came in every day and I was myself. What people see me doing with the contestants is exactly what I do with my fans. I don’t critique my fans, but I definitely play with my fans and speak to my fans as if they are my friends. That’s why I started giving the contestants nicknames. When I’m laughing on the show, I’m genuinely laughing. I can’t come up there and pretend–I just can’t do it. I can’t be someone I’m not. I can’t sit there with a phony smile on my face. I can’t do it. I’m happy that people are responding well to it. I definitely didn’t have a preconceived notion of who I was going to be on that panel.”

Is the experience what she thought it would be?

“I didn’t have a real idea. It was so far-fetched from my reality. I’ve never done anything even remotely close to this. I had no idea. I think that’s why I was so afraid. I didn’t know what to expect. I really didn’t. But I’m happy about the way it ended up turning out, because it’s a fun thing, it’s a once in a lifetime experience. I feel like people have gotten to know the real me. That’s all I can ask for. If they like it or not, at least they are getting to know who I really am.”

Is there anything in particular she’s been surprised to learn about herself as a person through judging American Idol?

“I’ve been more surprised about the way people have reacted to me. Because, it almost seems like people weren’t expecting artists to come up there as judges and be completely real. That’s the only thing that puzzled me. I just thought ‘Hm. Isn’t that what we should be doing? Why is that so shocking to people?’ I guess the other thing, is that I didn’t realize that maybe I am a bit strange. Because the way people react to what I say to the contestants–that’s really how I act, but people think it’s kind of strange. Like when I asked Kree to marry me. I didn’t think that that was strange. But I guess looking back at it now, maybe no Idol judge has asked a contestant to marry them on live TV. I don’t know. I guess in general, I’m just surprised at the way people react to things that I see as very normal.”

As a judge who is emotionally connected to the contestants, is it hard when someone is eliminated?

“I was gutted when Curtis left, because I feel like Curtis had the best male voice for the entire season. And he was exciting. I couldn’t wait to see him perform. And looking back now, I wish we would have given him the save. I really do.”

What surprised her about American Idol.

“One of the things I was probably shocked about was how interested the world is in American Idol and how people–writers write about Idol all the time. I guess I didn’t expect that.”

If Nicki had the opportunity to give herself a nickname, what would she call herself?

“Young Hov”

Any explanation behind that?

“No, I don’t want to explain it. Either you understand it, or you don’t. And if you don’t understand it, it makes it even weirder.”

Which contestant could she see herself collaborating with and why?

“I would love to collaborate with…probably Burnell. He has a John Legend thing that I could definitely see myself collaborating with.”

How does she balance giving contestants honest advice without upsetting them? How does she balance the two?

“I don’t really think about balancing anything. I just react on my raw emotions. This last week, I sympathized with Lazaro and that’s just where my heart went. With Paul Jolley, I felt like ‘Your time is up.’ Even when I’m saying ‘Your time is up’ or ‘That was a bad performance,’ I still care about these people. These people are sweet, they’re loving, they’re chasing their dreams, their families are there. I’m always, in my heart, caring about them. I never try to hurt them at all. I just say what I really really feel. I have been finding lately that I’ve been probably–since we’re down to the very best of the best–I’ve definitely been trying to say things in a way that won’t discourage them, because I want them to continue shining. Whereas maybe in the beginning I would say it in a blunt way–sometimes now because we’ve gotten so close to them–I say it in a way that I just want them to fix it for next week so that they can actually stay in the competition and get votes.”